Chipmunk's Solo AT Thru Hike UpdateDay 122 on the Appalachian Trail Miles Hiked to Date: 1287 Hiked yesterday: 15 Trail Miles, Miles left to hike: 896

First, thank you to "Peanut" for your generous donation. Chipmunk said one thing, "PIZZA!" FYI, I'll soon see one of your favorite bike mechanics, if he survives the spider bite. (Check his facebook page.)

Second, thank you to Melissa and Gene for your generous donation. We love hearing what you are doing and hope that yours and Chipmunk's paths do connect. Wow! What a great way to start a marriage! Please keep us posted as you hike and we'll see if we can meet up.

Chipmunk and I woke to pouring rain pelting the camper roof. We looked at each other and I thought she might ask to take a Zero day .. I was wrong. I said, "How you feeling?" and she said, "Tired. But I'm definitely hiking today." I said, "OK" and we set about our morning tasks, shuffling past each other in the narrow walkway that separates her bunk from the kitchen counter.

She asked, "How many miles to Delaware Water Gap?" I told her about 15 miles and told her there was a good midday meet up point at about 9 miles. She said that sounded good.

She took her vitamin, ate her breakfast and dressed while I made her PB&J sandwich and pulled the day's snacks. I drove her to the trailhead in the pouring rain and I worried about her falling again, on the rocks, now even more slippery with the rain. She hugged me and I kissed her goodbye and waited until I could see her no more.

I drove to the local McDonald's for Wifi and coffee. As soon as I walked through the door, I saw this traffic signal on display. If I was a superstitious person, I might have turned around and retrieved her from the trail ... but, I kept my worries in check and proceeded with my online work. I returned emails for a media event we were coordinating with a terrific group, www.hikeformentalhealth.org. Chipmunk is looking forward to speaking out about the stigma of depression, especially for teens. I also read messages from my daughter, the Editor, letting me know that the impending date of her boyfriend, Dillon's, date to leave for Korea (where he'll teach English as a second language) was getting ever closer. My heart's breaking for her; she's grown very close to him and will feel a little "lost" for a while. I wish I was there to comfort her in person.

When my online work was done, I drove in the heavy rain to the local laundromat to tackle laundry. Chipmunk put the last of her dirty clothes in the hamper bag just before leaving, saying, "I threw in a pair of socks that I changed out midday; they were in my pack for a few days. Sorry."

What she didn't say was that the socks were wet when she took them off and that she put them in a plastic bag. She also didn't mention they were in the bag for over a week. When I put the laundry into the washer, I found the plastic bag, opened it and gagged! It was the worst stench I've ever experienced! It was clear to me that no amount of washing was going to bring these back to a wearable state! It was too hard to toss a pair of Thorlos Socks so I think I'm going to hang them on the camper door at night to ward off any perpetrators!!

I finished laundry and set the GPS to the midday meet up point. I double checked her location via her SPOT device since she didn't send me text updates as per usual. On rainy days, she doesn't pull her phone out often because it's not waterproof. I arrived at the trailhead a little early and checked my messages. A photographer with a local newspaper asked if he could come out and take some pics of Chipmunk on the trail to go with an article that a reporter planned to write after interviewing her in Delaware Water Gap. He agreed to meet us at the midday trailhead and I warned him that the rain was heavy and there was a good amount of fog, wondering to myself if he'd be able to get any clear shots.

When Chipmunk came into the trailhead, she was soaked. She finds raingear more of a hassle than a help and would rather change into dry clothes midday than wear a poncho of any sort. I made a hot bowl of ramen noodles while she made a big puddle of hiking clothes on the floor and put on dry clothes.

While she was eating, Papa Chip called and I told him all the latest. I could tell he wished he could be here for all of her hike but he assured us ... "only a short time longer." His bike tour ends August 8th, he'll spend a day wrapping up paper work, etc. and then fly out on the 10th overnight and we'll pick him up on the 11th. We can hardly wait until he returns.

As we waited for the photographer, I wondered why that spot felt so familiar. I went through some old photos on my phone and realized that we stopped in that very spot 2 years ago! We pedaled up a crazy long hill during our bike rideand at the top, we stopped for a picture next to the Appalachian Trail sign (for full story about the bike ride, click on "ride the nation" blog tab above) . That's Chipmunk when she was 12 (or 13 maybe) and that's Papa Chip back when their "trail names" were "Beast" and "Frankenbutt". You can't see it in this picture, but Chocolate Chip was in the trailer behind Papa Chip's bike. I remember talking about some day hiking the Appalachian Trail ... I just never figured it would be so soon and in this way. I like the surprises this life has handed me.

Chipmunk left on the trail with the photographer in tow. I waited at the trailhead until he returned. We talked for a while and he said, "She's a really cool kid, huh?" I nodded and said, "Yeah, we like her." We talked for a while and then we both headed out in the fog on the wet mountain roads. The good old Chip Mobile held the roads well and I made it to the end of day meet up spot. I took care of some camper tasks while I waited and the time passed quickly until Chipmunk arrived. Again, she was soaking wet and added even more to the wet clothes puddle on the floor. Mid-changing she asked, "Is there a mall or something we can go to? I haven't been to a mall in a while."

I checked Google Maps and found that there was one in nearby Stroudsburg. She smiled and pulled out "town clothes" to wear. Once she was dressed and in the cab, Chocolate Chip climbed into her lap and licked at her face while we talked.

We parked at Stroud Mall and as soon as we walked in, Chipmunk smelled the Auntie Anne's pretzels and made a beeline for it. She walked around the mall eating the giant pretzel and window shopping. When the pretzel was gone, she asked to look at clothes and shoes. I told her that the mall was closing soon and she said that she was getting sleepy any way.

We drove to our camp spot for the night (which happened to have wifi) and Chipmunk reconnected with friends online for about half an hour before declaring she couldn't stay awake any longer. I turned off the daily alarm on my phone, promising to let her sleep in. Mid-morning, we planned to meet up with family in Delaware Water Gap and then in the afternoon, Chipmunk had an interview scheduled with a newspaper.

As we drifted off to sleep, little did we know all that the following day held in store for us. For instance, we would find out that Chipmunk is genetically pre-disposed to Spoon wearing! We'd find out that cousin Leslie needs to wear special pants WITH TASSELS, for her dancing job. We'd find out that Aunt Janice might be a kleptomaniac ... but only for dessert. And apparently, after our shenanigans in town, Chipmunk would do something that lands her on the front page of the local paper!! Hmmm...what a day was ahead for us! ... But, more about all of that tomorrow!

If you enjoy reading the story of our adventure, and you’d like to send some “Trail Magic” to Chipmunk, click on the “Donate” button at the upper right corner of today’s blog post. Chipmunk maintains a twitter account: @openlymtngoat where a common hashtag is #GoChipmunk . She (or we) will try to answer any questions you may have about her hike and this family adventure.

Thanks again for all your support,Mama Chip, Papa Chip, Chipmunk and her dog, Chocolate Chip(Tammy, Jay, Neva and Coco)